29 April 2004 15:19
Governor in Russian north and Putin upbeat on regional economic potential
Salekhard, 29 April: Yuriy Neyelov, governor of the Yamal-Nenets Autonomous Area, today promised to submit dozens of
new national-level projects to the country's leaders.
At a meeting with President Vladimir Putin in Salekhard, he said "there are dozens of projects which would
benefit Russia". The governor said the proposals would be presented to the Ministry of Economic Development and
Trade. Neyelov said he had agreed to meet the minister, German Gref, to discuss support for these. "But not in the
sense of give us money, rather in the sense that the resources of Yamal can bring in a return," the governor
said.
Vladimir Putin noted the careful use made of resources in Yamal, including dealing with social issues. "You
probably have plenty of problems here, but I would like to thank you for the attention given to the small ethnic groups
of the Far North," the president said.
"In some regions one often comes across a widely-held opinion that you have to pay people to live in some
regions. This is not right," the head of state believes. In his opinion, one needs to identify the aspects of life
in any particular part of the country that are attractive to those living there. "It is our task to create these
conditions," the president said. In his view, the Yamal-Nenets Autonomous Area is a good example of what can be
achieved even in such severe and difficult climatic conditions.
On economic prospects, the head of state offered the opinion that gas recovery in Yamal could be doubled or even
tripled. He praised the information held in the "Resources of Yamal" territorial bank of geological and
geophysical data, which he had visited that day.
"I must say that the information held in this data bank not only makes it possible to run the region better, it
also provides additional valuable information in general," Vladimir Putin said. "If your information is
correct, it will enable us to build up the extraction of energy resources, including gas, double or triple it, and
that's just here. I won't mention the potential of other regions of Russia."
For his part, Yuriy Neyelov assured the president that "the information is indeed correct". It was based on
original materials, the governor said. "We can take responsibility for these figures, they are indeed
correct."
The governor thanked the president for his praise of the data bank. "I am very pleased that you liked the
territorial data bank, we have done some fairly useful work here and it really is helping us to run the region
already." he said.
Going on to answer questions from reporters, Vladimir Putin said that he believes it useful "to set up systems
like this for other regions" of the country. In his view, the work of the leaders of the autonomous area could
serve as an example of effective management. "The region's leaders are aware of its pros and cons, and this
helps identify the best way of dealing with them," Putin said.
Recalling that Yamal produces 90 per cent of all Russia's gas, the president said that the experience of the
autonomous area "will be to the benefit of all Russia". "It is clear to me that Russia has been, is and
will remain the world's biggest energy power," he said.
[ITAR-TASS news agency] |
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